(Photo above shows how Northwest used a "swarm" defense on Dylan Swingle all game)
The Paint Valley Bearcats showed everyone in the Waverly Downtown Gym Tuesday night, that Dylan Swingle is not the only scorer they have on their team, as PV rolled to a 59-27 win over Northwest in the D-3 Sectional Semis.
Swingle was double and triple teamed most of the game, holding the 6'11 senior scoreless until 3:16 left in the third quarter. Even so, at that point of the game, the Bearcats led 32-18, thanks to Caden Grubb and Cruz McFadden who shouldered most of the scoring at that point.
Grubb led all players in the game with 16 points, 14 of which came in the first half, where the Bearcats enjoyed a 26-13 lead at the break. Cruz McFadden chimed-in with 14 points of his own. Once Swingle got freed-up with the ball, who would score 14 points in the last quarter-and-a-half, which enabled him to surpass Chillicothe grad Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens as Ross County's all-time leading career scorer.
Bryce Newland pitched-in 6 points, but was probably more valuable on the glass, pulling down 13 rebounds to go along with Swingle's 11. Hunter Hamlin had 4 points, P.J. McAllister 3 and Traeden Jeffers 2.
The Bearcats held Northwest players under double-digits, as Braden Borens was their leader with 7 points.
Paint Valley shot 49% from the field at 22/45- including 5/10 from the arc. They also were 9/10 at the foul line. Northwest was held to only 26% at 11/43- including 3/11 from the arc. They were also only 2/4 from the line.
The Cats out-rebounded the Mohawks 35-25, and tuned Northwest over 17 times. PV had 9 miscues.
Paint Valley improves to (16-7) on the season and advances to face Eastern Brown at 6pm Saturday for the sectional championship at the Waverly Downtown Gym. 94 Country WKKJ will have the action with Greg Bigam and B. Jay Dailey, beginning with airtime at 5:45pm.
To relive the Bearcats win over Northwest, go to our podcast link below...